ELMHURST, Ill. – Jake Rhode scored 28 points and set a Bluejay record for career assists while leading the 10th-ranked Elmhurst University men's basketball team past Kalamazoo College 78-58 in the two squads' season-opening contest.
 
Kalamazoo (0-1) hung with the Bluejays for much of the contest as the game featured 12 ties and 11 changes over the first 33 minutes of action. Elmhurst led 34-33 at halftime after struggling from downtown, hitting only 3-of-12 shots from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Kalamazoo grabbed a three-point lead with 12:21 left to play before a pair of Rhode free throws put the Bluejays up for good two minutes later. Kalamazoo continued to hang with the Bluejays, trailing by only three points (57-54) with 6:30 left to play.
 
Elmhurst (1-0) took over down the stretch, outscoring the Hornets 21-4 over the final 6:30 to pull away for the 20-point victory. Rhode scored nine of the Bluejays' final 21 points to help the team pull away for the win.
 
Elmhurst shot 47.5 percent (28-of-59) from the field, but struggled from long range, hitting only 6-of-22 three-point attempts (27.3 percent). The Bluejays dominated inside the paint, outscoring Kalamazoo 44-20. Elmhurst also held a 39-25 lead on the glass and turned 11 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points.
 
Rhode led the way for Elmhurst while playing in his first games since the 2019-20 season. He shot 8-of-18 from the floor and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the foul line, finishing with a game-high 28 points. He added seven rebounds and one assist. One assist was all Rhode needed to move in front of Eric Stark on Elmhurst's all-time career assists. Rhode now sits with 388 assists for his career.
 
Wesley Hooker came off the bench to score 15 points and collect six rebounds for Elmhurst. Hooker shot 7-of-10 from the floor in the win. Jay Militello also reached double figures in scoring, finishing two rebounds shy of a double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds. Dominic Genco added eight points while Ocean Johnson scored five for Elmhurst.
 
Kalamazoo finished the game hitting 35.8 percent of its shots (19-of-53). Josh Decker led the Hornets in the loss, coming off the bench to score 18. Decker finished 6-of-13 from the floor, including 4-of-10 from three-point range. DJ Courtney added 12 points while Lukas Broadsword and Bobby Samples scored eight points apiece.
 
Elmhurst travels to Principia College on Saturday, November 13.